February is Black History Month in America, and as such, we thought we would honour this month by looking to the future! Now, Star Trek has had some absolutely fantastic black actors and characters in their long history on screen, but we would like to know; who would you like to see more of?
First up, we have the first African-American Captain in his own series, the brilliant, the sometimes bearded, Benjamin Sisko played by Avery Brooks. One of my personal favourite all-time Trek episodes is The Visitor, a story that focuses on the father-son relationship between Benjamin and his son Jake. This would be a great relationship to come back to – how has the intervening time (and Prophethood) changed them, and the world around them? And can we bring Kasidy Yates back at the same time too, please?
Throwing back to the first season of The Next Generation (we know, we know), Tryla Scott wowed the audience as Captain of the USS Renegade. Unfortunately, she suffered an unknown fate at the hands of the parasites, attempting to take over Starfleet Command. As a strong Captain, it would be fantastically interesting to see what happened to her. Maybe we’ll see in a new series.
The most prolific character/actor in Star Fleet history (please don’t @me if I’m wrong) is the brilliant Michael Dorn as Worf, son of Mogh. One of the most requested solo series that I’ve seen on the web is a chance to see Worf back on our screens. Would you like to see him come back as a Captain, still balancing a Starfleet with his Klingon heritage?
And what about my wife’s favourite character, the fabulous Tuvok, as played by Tim Russ? Arguably the greatest Vulcan we’ve seen on screen, Tuvok was the backbone of Voyager who had fantastically different relationships with all the different crewmen of that lost ship. Could he come back? I’d love to see him in the “modern” day; how has Voyager’s return changed his life, and does he still see his old friends?
There are, of course, lots of other brilliant black characters and actors; far too many to cover here, but perhaps you can let us know in the comments if there are other characters you’d rather see return? Perhaps you’d like to see the continuing adventures of Geordi LeForge or what Daystrom gets up to in his eponymous Institute.
Finally, we would be absolutely amiss not to honour three key black characters in the Star Trek universe, all of whom hold a special place in our hearts. First is that of Beckett Mariner, the lead of Lower Decks (possibly one of the most gif’d shows on our Discord), voiced by the incomparable Tawny Newsome.
Then we have the first black female captain, Michael Burnham; delightfully played by the great Sonequa Martin-Green. And finally, we have the legend that is Nyota Uhura, played originally by the heinous Nichelle Nichols, and soon to be back on our screens in Strange New Worlds (which I’m very much looking forward to) and to be played by Celia Rose Gooding.
So, this month we want to know… Which black character do you want to see more of?
